Boy Scouts postpone decision on lifting ban on gays

February 06. 2013 12:54PMThe Boy Scouts of America has postponed until May a decision on whether to lift a membership ban on gays.

The national executive board of BSA, meeting in Texas, announced Wednesday that "due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy.

"BSA had announced last week that it was considering removing its national policy that bans gay members and instead leave it up to the "chartered organizations" that sponsor scout troops to set their own membership policies.

In a statement released Wednesday, the BSA said the executive board decided to direct its committees to seek additional input from Scouting members. Based on their "perspectives and concerns," the board will then prepare a resolution on membership standards.

The approximately 1,400 voting members of the BSA national council will take up that resolution at its annual meeting in May.

"For 103 years, the Boy Scouts of America has been a part of the fabric of this nation, providing its youth program of character development and values-based leadership training," the statement said.

"In the past two weeks, Scouting has received an outpouring of feedback from the American public. It reinforces how deeply people care about Scouting and how passionate they are about the organization."